Rapid reaction: What Parker’s loss means for Spurs

For the second March in a row, the Spurs stand poised to be without their starting point guard for most of the month. An MRI taken Monday revealed Parker has a strained left calf muscle that will keep him out for two to four weeks.

Last season, it was a broken right hand — also suffered, coincidentally, against Memphis — that caused Parker to miss 16 games in March and April. If there’s any cause for optimism, it’s this: The Spurs went 11-5 during that stretch without Parker last season, including victories over several of the NBA’s elite (Orlando, Cleveland, at Boston and at the L.A. Lakers).

The biggest difference between this year and last? Last season, the Spurs were fighting for their playoff lives when Parker went down. This season, they’ve got a six-game cushion on Dallas for the Western Conference’s top seed.

Here is a look at how Parker’s second annual March injury changes things for the NBA-leading Spurs:

1) George Hill is your new starting point guard. The Spurs’ leading scorer off the bench at 11.2 points per game, Hill now takes Parker’s place with the starting five. It’s a role he has filled before, and ably. Hill isn’t quite the penetrator Parker is, but has improved his pick-and-roll game to the point where the Spurs’ offense with him at the helm can be a reasonable facsimile of a Parker-led attack.

2) Manu Ginobili needs to go ape again. When Parker went down last March, Ginobili got more touches, and morphed into the NBA’s best player for a month. He averaged 22.1 points, 5.8 assists and shot 51.7 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from 3-point range. His best games came against elite teams, the likes of which the Spurs are set to face without Parker over the next few weeks — 38 points at Cleveland and Atlanta, 30 at home against Cleveland, 28 at Boston, 43 against Orlando, 32 at the Lakers. If the Spurs are to weather Parker’s latest injury, March must become Manu’s month.

3) Keep an eye on the waiver wire. Parker’s absence could cause the Spurs to re-examine the buyout market, which is still unfolding. According to multiple reports, veteran point guard Mike Bibby is nearing an agreement with Washington that would make him a free agent. The Spurs could throw in a bid for Bibby, though that comes with two caveats: One, they are unlikely to make a move that would push them back into luxury tax territory and, two, they would likely be competing with Miami for Bibby’s services, a team that probably needs him more.